This invention relates to an apparatus for stacking each unit number of coins. More specifically, the invention pertains to such a coin stacking apparatus having a linear coin guideway along which the coins are fed in a horizontal row to a stacking station, wherein the coins are reliably stacked by a movable means which includes a plurality of coin engagement means and a plurality of coin displacement means.
In prior art coin stacking and wrapping apparatus, as heretofore constructed, the horizontal coin guideway along which coins are fed in a row has had its exit end disposed over an upstanding, open-top stacking tube having an openable bottom. Successively falling by gravity from the exit end of the coin guideway into the stacking tube, the coins are stacked within the latter. The bottom of the stacking tube is opened upon stacking of a prescribed number of coins, and the stack of coins is carried down to an underlying wrapping station, at which the stack is wrapped in a piece of wrapper strip.
An objection to the foregoing prior art construction is that the coins are stacked under the plane of the horizontal coin guideway and are wrapped at the wrapping station further underlying the stacking station. The wrapped stacks of coins, moreover, are ejected into a removable box still further underlying the wrapping station. This conventional arrangement has made the vertical dimension of the machine inordinately great, and even more so because the coins to be stacked and wrapped must be fed into the machine through a hopper which, of necessity, is positioned above the plane of the coin passageway.
Such a tall machine could only be mounted directly on the floor, rather than on a desk or other elevated base, as the hopper must be at such a height as to permit the easy charging of coins into the machine. However, with the machine floor-mounted, the vertical position of the box into which the wrapped stacks of coins are ejected comes very close to the floor. The operator has had to bend himself down to reach and raise the box heavily loaded with the wrapped coins, at the risk of ruining his back.
In order to remedy this weakness a suggestion has been made to incorporate into the machine an additional conveyor for transporting the wrapped stacks of coins up into a box located at a convenient height on the machine. The provision of the additional conveyor is objectionable because it adds substantially to both the bulk and the manufacturing cost of the machine. Obviously, the only truly satisfactory solution to this problem is to drastically reduce the height of the machine, without in any way adding to its bulk, complexity or manufacturing cost in so doing.
Another problem with the prior art is the considerable distance the stack of coins must travel from the stacking to the wrapping station. Because the coins are stacked within the upstanding tube and then withdrawn therefrom for transportation to the wrapping station in accordance with the prior art, the coin stack must travel a distance at least equal to its height. The longer the distance that the unwrapped coin stack travels, the greater the danger of its collapse on the way.